


a special kind of person indeed

by firestarter (devonair)



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, First Mission, Hairspray, I really love their dynamic, I wish they could have had more of an onscreen partnership, New Partners, Scibald, about everything, and the ultimate power couple, because someone here called it that and it was brilliant, fictional snakes, is the pairing called scibald??, sorta - Freeform, super chill, they're just, they're so c o o l
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 02:09:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13754046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devonair/pseuds/firestarter
Summary: It's a special kind of person indeed, who can be trusted wholly, without fear of betrayal or a subpar fulfillment of duty. ||He takes his job as her partner seriously, and she can respect that, especially after the snakes.





	a special kind of person indeed

The first time she had been assigned to be Gustav’s partner, following the relocation of her previous one, Jacquelyn had become quite familiar with the strangulation methods of mawless cable snakes. Of course, she was logically aware that the reptiles chose to strangle, dissolve and absorb their victims through their scales in lieu of an actual mouth, and she knew that the secretion of flesh-dissolving chemicals took enough time that she needn’t have been too worried. However, there lies a difference between knowing something intellectually, and knowing something by experience – cold, chafing experience as several mouthless serpents bind one’s arms to one’s sides.

            “Sebald,” she said clearly, enunciating as much as was possible with her lungs being slowly compressed, “I have a problem. Bring the snake repellent, please.”

            She couldn’t be sure that her radio was still on, as it had clattered to her feet some time before. She couldn’t be sure that he would reach her in time, or that he had not been caught in a trap himself. There were too many concerning possibilities, but Jacquelyn was nothing if not a courageous volunteer. There was no sense fretting over the very fine details, after all.

            She could put some faith in Sebald.

            Some time between the first snake wrapping its coils around her legs and Jacquelyn’s approaching death due to asphyxiation, she heard a sound other than dripping water and hissing scales: footsteps, echoing quickly and confidently through the concrete tunnels.

            Within the next few minutes, Sebald had rounded the corner, aerosol cans raised high. Within seconds, clouds of industrial-strength hairspray – the best defense against exotic snakes, of course – had begun to fill the air without mercy.

            And within the next few moments, the mawless cable snakes had abandoned their victims and slithered elsewhere, leaving Jaquelyn to cough and wheeze and steady herself on the nearest stable surface. The surface in question proved to be Sebald’s outstretched arm, and he waited quietly for her labored breathing to subside.

            It was with the first bit of breath she regained that Jacquelyn looked up at him – truly taking in his every feature – and let out a wondering, airy huff.

            “You came.” It was obvious, and she didn’t know why she felt the need to acknowledge it. It was his vital, foremost duty, after all, and it was a poor volunteer who didn’t do his job with haste.

            Sebald’s expression flickered with something akin to surprised amusement. A genuine smile tugged at his mouth, as if he were barring a laugh from escaping. It was a good look on him, that pleased calm.

            Now, neither one knew it, but his reply would become a recurring sequence of words in their years together; it was a small sentence, and yet one to be filled with the deeper meaning born of a fire-forged bond.

            Sebald smiled again, wider.

            “You sent for me.”


End file.
